Operation Noel: Little Brissa and Saul could use coats, cheer

Operation Noel, sponsored by HUB International, Mattress Firm, KVIA and El Paso Times, will provide 19,000 new coats this year to needy children. Donations will go toward paying for the coats, which is $256,500.

The Senior Fund, a charity of the El Paso Times and the Area Agency on Aging, helps low-income senior citizens yearround get basic services. Donations will be used to purchase items not covered by social services.
Send donations to the

A single mother of two children is struggling to support her family this Christmas season.

Diana Yañez works full time to give her children Brissa Contreras, 4, and Saul Contreras, 2, better lives. But the money that she makes is barely enough to pay the bills, she said.

The family currently lives in an old mobile home that desperately needs repairs.

"These are difficult times because sometimes I just have money to pay for the home expenses or the gas for the car. Now, during Christmas, it will be difficult to buy presents for my children. I do not know how I'm going to do it," she said.

Brissa and Saul Contreras will receive new coats through Operation Noel.

Brissa, the oldest child, attends a Head Start center in Chaparral, N.M. Yañez said the girl enjoys school and books.

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story